No Arabic abstract
We investigate the evolution of a system of two super-Earths with masses < 4 Earth masses embedded in a turbulent protoplanetary disk. The aim is to examine whether or not resonant trapping can occur and be maintained in presence of turbulence and how this depends on the amplitude of the stochastic density fluctuations in the disk. We have performed 2D numerical simulations using a grid-based hydrodynamical code in which turbulence is modelled as stochastic forcing. We assume that the outermost planet is initially located just outside the position of the 3:2 mean motion resonance (MMR) with the inner one and we study the dependance of the resonance stability with the amplitude of the stochastic forcing. For systems of two equal-mass planets we find that in disk models with an effective viscous stress parameter {alpha} 10^{-3}, damping effects due to type I migration can counteract the effects of diffusion of the resonant angles, in such a way that the 3:2 MMR can possibly remain stable over the disk lifetime. For systems of super-Earths with mass ratio q=m_i/m_o < 1/2, where m_i (m_o) is the mass of the innermost (outermost) planet, the 3:2 MMR is broken in turbulent disks with effective viscous stresses 2x10^{-4}< {alpha}< 10^{-3} but the planets become locked in stronger p+1:p resonances, with p increasing as the value for {alpha} increases. For {alpha}> 2x10^{-3}, the evolution can eventually involve temporary capture in a 8:7 commensurability but no stable MMR is formed. Our results suggest that for values of the viscous stress parameter typical to those generated by MHD turbulence, MMRs between two super-Earths are likely to be disrupted by stochastic density fluctuations. For lower levels of turbulence however, as is the case in presence of a dead-zone, resonant trapping can be maintained in systems with moderate values of the planet mass ratio.
Low-mass objects embedded in isothermal protoplanetary discs are known to suffer rapid inward Type I migration. In non-isothermal discs, recent work has shown that a decreasing radial profile of the disc entropy can lead to a strong positive corotation torque which can significantly slow down or reverse Type I migration in laminar viscous disc models. It is not clear however how this picture changes in turbulent disc models. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of turbulence on the torque experienced by a low-mass planet embedded in a non-isothermal protoplanetary disc. We particularly focus on the role of turbulence on the corotation torque whose amplitude depends on the efficiency of diffusion processes in the planets horseshoe region. We performed 2D numerical simulations using a grid-based hydrodynamical code in which turbulence is modelled as stochastic forcing. In order to provide estimations for the viscous and thermal diffusion coefficients as a function of the amplitude of turbulence, we first set up non-isothermal disc models for different values of the amplitude of the turbulent forcing. We then include a low-mass planet and determine the evolution of its running time-averaged torque. We show that in non-isothermal discs, the entropy-related corotation torque can indeed remain unsaturated in the presence of turbulence. For turbulence amplitudes that do not strongly affect the disc temperature profile, we find that the running time-averaged torque experienced by an embedded protoplanet is in fairly good agreement with laminar disc models with appropriate values for the thermal and viscous diffusion coefficients. In discs with turbulence driven by stochastic forcing, the corotation torque therefore behaves similarly as in laminar viscous discs and can be responsible for significantly slowing down or reversing Type I migration.
We investigate the impact of a highly eccentric 10 $M_{rm oplus}$ (where $M_{rm oplus}$ is the Earth mass) planet embedded in a dusty protoplanetary disk on the dust dynamics and its observational implications. By carrying out high-resolution 2D gas and dust two-fluid hydrodynamical simulations, we find that the planets orbit can be circularized at large radii. After the planets orbit is circularized, partial gap opening and dust ring formation happen close to the planets circularization radius, which can explain the observed gaps/rings at the outer region of disks. When the disk mass and viscosity become low, we find that an eccentric planet can even open gaps and produce dust rings close to the pericenter and apocenter radii before its circularization. This offers alternative scenarios for explaining the observed dust rings and gaps in protoplanetary disks. A lower disk viscosity is favored to produce brighter rings in observations. An eccentric planet can also potentially slow down the dust radial drift in the outer region of the disk when the disk viscosity is low ($alpha lesssim2times10^{-4}$) and the circularization is faster than the dust radial drift.
We explore the possibility of detecting Super Earths via transit timing variations with the satellite CoRoT.
Ariel will mark the dawn of a new era as the first large-scale survey characterising exoplanetary atmospheres with science objectives to address fundamental questions about planetary composition, evolution and formation. In this study, we explore the detectability of atmospheres vaporised from magma oceans on dry, rocky Super-Earths orbiting very close to their host stars. The detection of such atmospheres would provide a definitive piece of evidence for rocky planets but are challenging measurements with currently available instruments due to their small spectral signatures. However, some of the hottest planets are believed to have atmospheres composed of vaporised rock, such as Na and SiO, with spectral signatures bright enough to be detected through eclipse observations with planned space-based telescopes. In this study, we find that rocky super-Earths with a irradiation temperature of 3000 K and a distance from Earth of up to 20 pc, as well as planets hotter than 3500 K and closer than 50 pc, have SiO features which are potentially detectable in eclipse spectra observed with Ariel.
Simulations predict that hot super-Earth sized exoplanets can have their envelopes stripped by photo-evaporation, which would present itself as a lack of these exoplanets. However, this absence in the exoplanet population has escaped a firm detection. Here we demonstrate, using asteroseismology on a sample of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates observed during the Kepler mission that, while there is an abundance of super-Earth sized exoplanets with low incident fluxes, none are found with high incident fluxes. We do not find any exoplanets with radii between 2.2 and 3.8 Earth radii with incident flux above 650 times the incident flux on Earth. This gap in the population of exoplanets is explained by evaporation of volatile elements and thus supports the predictions. The confirmation of a hot-super-Earth desert caused by evaporation will add an important constraint on simulations of planetary systems, since they must be able to reproduce the dearth of close-in super-Earths.